


Maybe I’m Hiding Something You Already Know

by JadeNightTheWriter



Series: Maybe [1]
Category: Magic Kaito
Genre: Angst, Family, Friendship, Gen, Hugs, I cried writing this, Identity Reveal, One Shot, he needs a hug, he’s literally seventeen, kaito’s too young for this shit, much angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-28
Updated: 2020-07-28
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:46:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,817
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25527655
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JadeNightTheWriter/pseuds/JadeNightTheWriter
Summary: Aoko comes home from Keiko’s house one day and finds Kaito perched on the living room windowsill. He doesn’t look up when she enters, his gaze fixed firmly out the window at his room. His face is cast in shadow, familiar in a way she can’t quite place. For some reason she expects to see a smirk at the corners of his mouth, something that’s so very Kaito and yet not Kaito as well.Aka the Kaitou Kid identity reveal no one asked for.
Relationships: Kuroba Kaito | Kaitou Kid & Nakamori Aoko, Kuroba Kaito | Kaitou Kid & Nakamori Ginzou
Series: Maybe [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1853146
Comments: 2
Kudos: 81





	Maybe I’m Hiding Something You Already Know

Aoko comes home from Keiko’s house one day and finds Kaito perched on the living room windowsill. He doesn’t look up when she enters, his gaze fixed firmly out the window. His face is cast in shadow, familiar in a way she can’t quite place. For some reason she expects to see a smirk at the corners of his mouth, something that’s so very Kaito and yet not Kaito at all.

She calls out his name, setting her bag carefully on the couch.

"When's your dad coming home?" he asks, his lips barely moving, his gaze still unwavering.

"In a few hours," she answers. "He's still cleaning up after the Kid heist."

Was it just her imagination, or did something in his features shift? As if he's slamming a poker face on, carefully keeping his expression the same. When did she loose her ability to tell what he was thinking? It feels as if something has been forcing them apart, taking up Kaito's time and shutting her out.

After a long pause, Kaito nods. "I need to talk to you. Both of you. Just promise me... promise you'll listen until the very end."

" _Bakaito,_ " she says, voice wavering. "Why? What—what did you do?"

He laughs bitterly, and it's not a laugh that should belong to Kaito. Kaito, the class clown, the magician, the one who's always all smiles and smirks and happy little tricks. It sounds like he's acting the part of someone else.

_But maybe_ , thinks a dark part of her, _he's been acting all along, and this is the_ real _Kaito_.

That thought terrifies her.

"I wish I knew," is all he says, and it's so _ominous_ , so _vague_ , too much like that _damn Kaitou Kid_.

With a huff, she turns around, picks up her bag and heads to her room, calling, "don't you dare go anywhere" behind her with a slightly threatening tone.

He says something, but she doesn't quite catch it.

**…~*^°^*~…**

"Tadaima," Ginzo calls as he steps into his house, pulling off his scarf.

"Okaeri!” Aoko calls back, and he can hear another person echo it, their voice familiar and welcome.

"Kaito-kun!" he says when he emerges into the living room. "I haven't seen you in a while, how are you?"

He shrugs one shoulder instead of answering, lifting his head to fix him with a humorless indigo stare. "I need to talk to you both."

Ginzo frowns. He hasn't heard Kaito sound this serious since... since Toichi's death. He sits down on the couch next to his daughter, years of police work automatically making him analyze the young teen in front of him.

Kaito is sitting on the windowsill, to be close to an exit, or to feel less trapped. His posture is relaxed, but not in a comfortable way. He's ready to move in a split-second's notice.

Ginzo's frown deepens thoughtfully. What could make Kaito so unnerved, _here_? The house is basically his second home.

"We're listening."

Kaito takes a deep breath, looks them in the eyes. "Just let me explain everything first. Then, if you want, I'll leave."

Ginzo barely has time to comprehend the sentence before Kaito snaps his fingers. A cloud of smoke envelopes him at the same time the window bangs open. He's seen it so many times, he could recall it in his sleep. He understands the exact same second his daughter does.

_No_.

The smoke clears, and standing in Kaito's place is Kaitou Kid. The moonlight glints off the monocle, the cape flares around him in the winter wind blowing through the now open window. His top hat is tilted at just the right angle, obscuring his features while allowing his indigo eyes— _indigo_ , how come he didn't realize it earlier?—to meet their gazes fearlessly.

There's no doubt about it. Ginzo's been chasing him for years, he can recognize an imposter. No one carries themselves quite like Kid does.

"No way," Aoko breathes. "No. That's not... that's not possible."

"I'm afraid it is," Kid says, but it's not Kid but _it is_. Because this... this is not Kaito. This persona is not the boy that Ginzo has watched grow up for years, full of smiles and pranks. This isn't Kaito. But it is.

"You deserve an explanation," Kid—no, _Kaito_ —says. It's not Kid, because his voice holds something other than mischievous laughter, something Kaitou Kid always had.

Ginzo can't tell what’s coloring his tone now. Sadness? Regret?... _desperation_?

“ _Why_ Kaito?” Aoko asks, and he can hear the betrayal in those two words. He feels the same. To think that _Kaitou Kid,_ an internationally wanted criminal, a master thief, would be _Kuroba Kaito_ , his neighbor, his son in all but blood and law.

“Why are you telling us _now_?" Aoko demands. “After lying to us for so long, _why now_?”

“I have a friend,” Kaito says, hand reaching to the brim of his hat to pull it lower, a shield from Aoko’s hurt expression, “who told me that even if I think I’m protecting you now, it’ll only hurt you more later. Sometimes emotional wounds hurt more than physical wounds.” He laughs without any amusement. “I guess I should know that better than anyone.”

“Toichi,” Ginzo realizes. “It must have been him, before. That’s how your tricks are so similar. It must be how you got the card gun and uniform too.”

“A secret room.” Kaito answers.

“Why didn’t you tell us when you found it?” Aoko asks, and now that the shock has passed she sounds more angry than hurt.

"Do you really think we would have turned the evidence in?" Ginzo demands.

“You both _hate_ Kid,” Kaito snaps. “Would you really let me go and find answers?”

"Toichi wasn't just your father, he was a friend to me too," he says sharply. "I'm not about to go turning friends into the police. I chase _Kaitou Kid_ , and that means learning how working around the law is necessary sometimes. He helped arrest several dangerous criminals. And think about it, if Toichi was Kid, it's too much to be a coincidence he was killed. I'm not _blind_ , Kaito, I know there are sometimes gunmen at the heists. Think about that detective brat, Kudo-something—"

Kaito flinches.

"—he bends the law often, and would you ever agree he's done anything bad? That he should be turned in for using a gun to defend a hostage? That he should be arrested because he stole things belonging to the suspects to remove a weapon?"

He's not sure why, but the words hit Kaito harder than intended. He can see it in the tightening of his shoulders, the way he holds his head so the monocle hides his eye.

“So explain.” Ginzo says. “I can’t turn you in until I know why you became Kid. Maybe you broke rules at school on a daily basis, maybe you don’t listen to people in charge, but you always hated it when people did things illegally. _So why did you become Kaitou Kid?_ ”

“Kaito,” Aoko warns, and it’s threatening. 

“They killed him,” Kaito says, deceptively calm. “A crime syndicate who’s after a gem called Pandora, said to grant immortality. They _killed_ my father, and they’re not getting away with it.”

“Then you should have come to us.” Ginzo growls. “The police could have arrested them.”

“They have someone in the police force,” Kaito snaps back. “Otherwise how could they stop the investigation into my dad’s death?”

Ginzo frowns.

“I don’t know who it is,” Kaito says, as if he knows what Ginzo is thinking. And maybe he does, because Kaitou Kid is a master at reading people, and Kaitou Kid is Kuroba Kaito.

“I’ll ask Hakuba-kun if he can investigate,” Aoko offers, and she still sounds angry, but now that she’s realized Kaito has a reason, she’s more determined than anything else.

“Don’t,” Kaito says, and maybe Ginzo can’t tell what he’s feeling, but he recognizes Toichi’s poker face.

“Stop hiding,” he snaps, and Kaito flinches. “The more you pretend to be okay, the more you’re not. It was the one thing your father was wrong about.”

Kaito opens his mouth to say something, but Ginzo cuts him off.

“You’re better than he was, a better magician, a better Kid, and a better person. Don’t go making the same mistakes he did. You had the courage to tell us, something he never had, and that’s good for you. But don’t go and hide behind that damn mask, because no matter how truthful you are, hiding your feelings is just going to drive a wedge between us. Aoko and I have known you since the only trick you could do was make a flower appear. Don’t just throw those years out the window.”

“No one is better than my dad,” Kaito argues, choosing to ignore everything else.

“You are,” Ginzo repeats. “You _are_ better than him. So drop that damn mask of yours, because if he’s gone then Aoko and I are your family. And what’s the point of us being here if not to support you?”

Aoko takes a step toward Kaito and he flinches back, stepping closer to the window.

“I’m not going to arrest you, idiot,” she snaps, reaching out and wrapping her arms around him, hugging him tight. Gentler, she asks, “What made you think we would?”

And the poker face shatters.

Kaito squeezes his eyes shut, holding Aoko close as tears begin to form in the corner of his eyes.

“I don’t _know_ ,” he chokes out. “I have people after my life, people who want to throw me in jail, and Hakuba asks me every day if I’m Kid. Every _day_ Aoko, I have to lie and fake it and pretend I’m alright when I’m not. And I have to lie to you too and I just _don’t know_ anymore.”

“Kaito...” Aoko says softly.

Ginzo wraps his arms around both of them as Kaito shakes with silent tears, all the stress built up from so long finally breaking through.

They’re not okay. Aoko is hurt and Kaito is broken and the trust between them will take time to heal. They’re not okay, but Ginzo’s going to make damn sure they will be.

**…~*^°^*~…**

The next day in class, Aoko hands Kaito a news article about a jewel being kept in a nearby museum. He glances up at her with a questioning look. She gives him a small smile and turns back to her seat.

For the rest of the day, Kaito pulls no pranks, Aoko doesn’t chase him with a mop, and they don’t bicker like they usually do. The class isn’t sure whether to be relieved or terrified.

Saguru asks Kaito sarcastically if he’s finally admitted to being Kid and is atoning for his crimes. He is met with two identical glares, and his pocket watch being stolen. For once, Aoko doesn’t yell at Kaito about it.

**Author's Note:**

> I’m planning to write a little one shot about Kid and Conan, because those two are awesome. (In case you didn’t realize, the “friend” Kaito mentioned was Conan)


End file.
